It’s a striking sight that grabs your attention and can be seen miles away, even from as far as the westbound Interstate 10 freeway north of downtown.
“Through Her Eyes” is the brainchild of Leila Parnian, a 40-year-old Scottsdale artist who has created and collaborated on a number of murals throughout the Valley. The child of Iranian immigrants, she eschewed a business career and quit her job at her parents' upscale Scottsdale furniture store in 2018 to become a full-time artist.
Since the debut of "Through Her Eyes," the project has received extensive media coverage from outlets such as Arizona PBS and Arizona's Family, and a number of accolades. Parnian even received a congratulatory letter from Arizona Congressman David Schweikert, which she shared on social media.
Of course, Parnian couldn't complete such a large mural alone. And that's where the problems begin.
As with a number of the other local murals Parnian has created, “Through Her Eyes” was a collaboration. She brought a frequent collaborator in Maryland artists Danny Lorden — better known as D Lord — as well as Shawn Forton to assist on the massive project. For months, the trio worked from a swing-stage platform hung by steel cables along Saiya’s side, painting the mural Parnian had reportedly designed freehand, utilizing an architectural scale.
The media spotlight has been almost entirely on Parnian and her desire that the piece will inspire others or be a “beacon of hope," as she told the Arizona Republic. Little attention has been paid to Lorden and Forton, two artists who have expressed open support for President Donald Trump and have portfolios that include pro-MAGA artwork, COVID denials, anti-Black Lives Matter sentiments and more.
Details about Lorden and Forton’s past work — as well as Forton's criminal history — were discovered by Phoenix graffiti and sticker artist Nopal in the wake of publicity of “Through Her Eyes” in July. He then shared screenshots of Lorden’s social media with the alt-right watchdog Bluesky account Arizona Right Watch.
That's when we went digging.
‘I DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT’
Lorden is an unabashed Trump supporter. A scroll through his Instagram features photos of the artist — who appears to split his time between the Valley, Las Vegas and Maryland — working on a Trump mural near Fremont Street in Sin City last fall and attending a Halloween 2024 rally for the then-candidate at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.Lorden’s social media is teeming with MAGA-flavored art pieces. There’s a 2022 video of him painting “Let’s Go Brandon” across a trailer. In 2021, he tagged a wall with graffiti celebrating the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the controversial gunman who fatally shot two Wisconsin protesters in 2020. In 2022, he painted a piece that reads, "COVID Disappeared Quicker Than Black Lives Matter After the Election!!!"
A particularly noxious post depicts Lorden in front of a newly finished work: a panel truck depicting Taylor Swift in a Trump jersey. (Of course, Taylor Swift is not a Trump supporter.) Lorden, dressed in a black hoodie, a backward red ballcap and an American flag bandana covering the bottom half of his face, flashes the "OK" hand gesture that in recent years has been linked to white supremacists and extremist groups like the Proud Boys.
Lorden's hand gesture in this photo has been linked to white supremacists and extremist groups.
Instagram Screenshot
His comments accompanying the photos and videos can be just as caustic. In a 2024 Instagram post featuring a Trump mural he painted with Forton, he wrote: “I DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT — I’M AN AMERICAN.”
According to the signature on the mural, Lorden and Forton worked on this project together.
Instagram Screenshot
He’s just as combative when challenged. In February, he was featured in a video of himself and others creating graffiti in Las Vegas that read “KILL THE HOMELESS,” set to Rage Against the Machine’s anti-fascist anthem “Killing in the Name.”
The choice of song drew criticism from an unidentified Valley street artist under the handle @fartman602, who commented: “Weird, you misspelled the word ‘Rich.’ Some of those who do ‘street art’ are the same that burn crosses. Always cute when reactionaries discover RATM but don’t bother to listen to the lyrics. I think Kid Rock would be more up your alley, big dawg.”
Lorden dismissed the critique with: “Come put a stop to it. I’m yawning. Boring.”
Cop gone bad
Forton, a friend of Lorden and a former corrections deputy with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland for 18 years, has his own portfolio of pro-Trump art. Beyond the 2024 mural with Lorden, the Maryland-based artist has created and sold portraits of the president, along with numerous pro-law enforcement pieces.His controversial past extends beyond art, though.
In 2024, Forton was indicted on theft and forgery charges after being accused of forging a $15,000 check in a Maryland woman’s name and depositing it into his personal account. According to Harford County court records, he took an Alford plea in May to a felony theft charge in the case, which allowed him to acknowledge prosecutors had enough evidence to convict while maintaining his innocence.
Forton, who resigned from his job in February, was ordered to repay the stolen funds and was given a five-year suspended sentence, which would be modified to probation once restitution is completed.
Phoenix New Times was unable to confirm whether restitution has been made in the case despite calls to Harford County court officials.
Choose your friends wisely
“Through Her Eyes” wasn’t the first time Lorden teamed up with Parnian. The two have previously collaborated on murals at Wasted Grain in Scottsdale, Brunch Snob’s Seventh Street location in 2023 and an Arizona statehood-themed piece at the Westin Phoenix Downtown hotel in 2024.But it's Parnian's collaboration with Lorden on “Through Her Eyes” that brought his past to light.
Nopal told the New Times that the hullabaloo surrounding “Through Her Eyes” piqued his curiosity about the artists involved.
@dlordink ♬ original sound - DLORDINK
“People were posting about the mural. And then I was like, ‘What's this all about?’ I clicked (Lorden's) profile and kept seeing all this stuff. So I was like, ‘Who is this guy?'” Nopal says.
Nopal also says he questioned why Parnian didn’t use local artists to work on the mural.
New Times made multiple requests to speak with Parnian regarding “Through Her Eyes,” her collaborations with Lorden and his pro-MAGA and Trump artwork, but was unable to secure an interview or comment. New Times was also unable to reach Lorden and Forton for comment despite repeated requests.
Lorden posted this piece on Instagram the day accused killer Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted.
Instagram Screenshot
“Through Her Eyes” is Parnian’s biggest project in her relatively short career as an artist. She landed the gig after Mitch Pinckard of True North Studios, impressed by her mural work at State 48 Brewery, connected her with Oz Friedmann of Atlanta-based real estate developer Hatteras Sky in 2019. Parnian was later hired to create the massive piece adorning Saiya, its new downtown apartment project.
Friedmann, Hatteras Sky’s principal and managing director of development, told New Times he was impressed at how the mural turned out. “It's fantastic. It certainly met and exceeded my vision and hope, and we've gotten really, really great feedback on it,” Friedmann says. “I think it's certainly a skyline identifier, you know?”
Friedmann told New Times he wasn’t aware of Lorden’s and Forton’s art, their politics or their work on “Through Her Eyes.”
“I have no knowledge of that and I have no comment,” he said.
